Two Poems: One Conviction and Cities Only Burn When

One Conviction

In the streets

Fists rising

Signs waiving

Shouts

Chants

Posts

Editorials

Face to face

With blue brotherhood danger

In the service of

White supremacy

Speaking out against

A steady stream

Of deadly murders

From 1620 to 2021

To finally get

One conviction

That still leaves us

Mourning for George Floyd

One conviction in the face

Of a national historical legacy

Of national oppression

That plagues the lives

Of Black, Brown and Native

People everywhere…still

One conviction due to those

Who champion humanity

One tiny step closer

To human rights for everyone

One massive uprising everywhere

The people’s conviction for a convction

Mattered most…made it possible

To force this nation to finally

Recognize the humanity

Of George Floyd,

A Black man

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Cities only burn

When people rage

As death inflicted

Goes unrecognized

Repeatedly, even when

The world watches

In gut wrenching horror

Cities only burn

When the law enforcement

Kills Black lives

Unrepentant, unpunished

forgiven, defended

Blue wall defense

Black life offensive

Cities only burn

When everyone knows

No justice

Business as usual

No justice

Four hundred years

No justice

Black lives matter

In a world of justice

But not this nation

Cities only burn

When loved ones are taken

Flames are the screams

Of loss and pain

The agony of injustice

The hope for humanity

For the world to see and hear